-
Source: ONE News -
Watch Video
-
Related
The government's promise for breast cancer sufferers to get a 12-month course of drug Herceptin applies from November 19, Prime Minister John Key has announced.
Women who paid for Herceptin treatment privately between the swearing in of the new government on November 19 and Wednesday can seek reimbursement from the Ministry of Health.
Women with early Her-2 positive breast cancer can access the one-year course of the cancer drug, and also have the nine-week treatment option available, Key says.
"The government expects that over time, up to 300 women a year will benefit from the year-long course."
Government funding agency Pharmac had refused to fund more than a nine-week course.
It said scientific and other information had failed to convince it that the longer course offered any additional benefits over the nine-week treatment it did fund.
Former Health Minister David Cunliffe said he could not over rule Pharmac but the new government, after making the change an election campaign pledge, is going ahead.
Health Minister Tony Ryall says the extension will be funded from the government's planned $180 million new money for pharmaceuticals over the next three years.
Patients receiving a privately funded course of 12 months Herceptin now have the option of completing the remainder of their treatment with a public provider, where it will be fully funded by the government.
Women who choose to continue receiving treatment privately will only be funded for the cost of the drug and not the delivery.
Patients who recently completed a publicly funded nine-week treatment or recently discontinued a private 12-month course of Herceptin treatment may now be able to receive the balance of a 12-month course of treatment publicly depending on their specialist's clinical judgment.
Ryall says more patients will attend outpatient clinics and extra staffing will be needed in the long-term.
The government will provide additional funding up to $3.6 million per annum to support the additional costs of administering the drug. The cost of the drug is not being released for commercial sensitivity reasons, he says.
Ryall says the benefits of using Herceptin to treat early breast cancer are well known and recognised internationally.
The benefits of Herceptin have been reported in a number of international randomised trials and 34 other countries offer 12 months Herceptin as the standard of care, he says.
Clinical trials found Herceptin had a small risk of significant side effects, such as heart failure, and that this risk may be increased with longer courses. Specialists and women will take that into consideration, Ryall says.
